After winning independence, the United States governed itself under the weak Articles of Confederation for eight years. In 1787, delegates gathered in Philadelphia intending to revise the Articles and ended up scrapping them entirely. What they wrote became the most enduring and successful constitution in world history.

Key Takeaways

• The Articles of Confederation gave Congress no power to levy taxes, regulate commerce, or enforce laws. By the mid-1780s the system was clearly failing.

• The Constitutional Convention opened in May 1787 with 55 delegates. The key conflict was between the Virginia Plan, favoring large states with proportional representation, and the New Jersey Plan, favoring equal representation for all states.

• The compromise: a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate giving every state equal representation.

• The Three-Fifths Compromise counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for both representation and taxation, embedding slavery into the constitutional framework.

• As Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall on September 17, 1787, a woman asked what kind of government they had created. Franklin answered, 'A republic, if you can keep it.'

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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

The Articles gave the central government almost no practical authority. Congress couldn't collect taxes directly, couldn't regulate interstate or foreign commerce, and had no way to enforce its own laws. Each state operated largely as its own sovereign entity. Without the power to raise revenue or compel compliance, the national government was too weak to function effectively.

Q2: What was the Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention?

The Great Compromise resolved the conflict between large and small states over representation. Large states wanted representation proportional to population. Small states wanted equal representation for all states. The solution was a bicameral Congress: a House of Representatives based on population, and a Senate where every state, regardless of size, gets two seats.

Q3: What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement to count enslaved people as three-fifths of a person when calculating a state's population for the purpose of representation in the House and for direct taxation. It gave southern slave states more political power than they would have had if enslaved people were not counted at all, while not granting them full representation.

Q4: What are the Federalist Papers?

The Federalist Papers are a collection of 85 essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay under the shared pen name Publius. Published in New York newspapers between 1787 and 1788, they argued in favor of ratifying the new Constitution and explained the reasoning behind its structure. They remain the most authoritative guide to the original intent of the Constitution.

Q5: What rights does the Bill of Rights protect?

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. They protect freedom of religion, speech, the press, and peaceful assembly; the right to petition the government; the right to bear arms; protections against unreasonable searches and seizures; the right to a jury trial; and protection against cruel and unusual punishment, among others.

A Nation That Couldn't Govern Itself

Winning the Revolutionary War was one thing. Governing 13 independent states as a single republic was another. From 1781 to 1789, the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation, a constitution that gave the central government almost no real power. Congress couldn't levy taxes, regulate commerce, or enforce its own laws. Loyalties ran deeper to individual states than to the nation. By the mid-1780s, the sense of disunity was growing and frustration with weak governance was mounting. A convention was called in Philadelphia in May 1787. The Revolution had only recently ended at Yorktown, the subject of our episode on the siege of Yorktown.

Two Plans, One Compromise

Fifty-five delegates arrived in Philadelphia originally intending to revise the Articles. Instead, they wrote an entirely new constitution. The central fight was over representation. James Madison's Virginia Plan favored a strong national government with representation proportional to population, giving larger states more power.

William Paterson's New Jersey Plan sought to preserve state sovereignty with equal representation for all states regardless of size. The convention settled on a bicameral legislature: a House of Representatives with proportional representation, and a Senate with two seats per state regardless of population. The Three-Fifths Compromise addressed slavery by counting each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for both representation and taxation. The man who would preside over the convention is the focus of our episode on Washington as America's Cincinnatus.

Separation of Powers and a New Framework

The delegates also adopted the principle of separation of powers, dividing authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches with a system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch from dominating. On September 17, 1787, 39 of the 55 delegates signed the Constitution in Independence Hall. As Benjamin Franklin walked out, Philadelphia socialite Elizabeth Willing Powel asked him: 'Well, doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?' Franklin replied, 'A republic, if you can keep it.' The answer has been tested ever since.

Ratification, the Federalist Papers, and the Bill of Rights

Before ratification, a fierce national debate broke out. Anti-Federalists opposed a strong central government and published essays arguing against the new constitution. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay responded with the Federalist Papers, signing them under the pseudonym Publius, after a founder of the Roman Republic.

Delaware was the first state to ratify on December 7, 1787. When New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, the Constitution became the supreme law of the land. Rhode Island was last, ratifying in May 1790. Two years later, the Bill of Rights became law, securing freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, the right to bear arms, and protection against unreasonable searches. The Constitution has been amended 27 times since. Its core principles haven't changed. The first major test of the new framework came in the bitter election we cover in our episode on the Election of 1800.